Critical Review by Susannah Clapp

SOURCE: Clapp, Susannah. “Adrian Lester is an Eerie, Modern Henry in a State-of-the-Nation Epic.” Observer (18 May 2003): 11.

In the following excerpted review of the 2003 National Theatre staging of Henry V directed by Nicholas Hytner, Clapp credits the production for breaking from Laurence Olivier's highly influential 1944 film adaptation. Unlike Olivier's pro-war “heroic romance,” Clapp notes, Hytner's production was “much darker” and “more divided.”

In his tussle to reshape the idea of what the National Theatre can be, Nicholas Hytner has already wrestled one preconception to the ground, combating the razzmatazz musicals of his predecessor with the snarling, soaring Jerry Springer—The Opera. Now he's aiming at bigger targets.

In directing Henry V—amazingly, the first time the play has been produced at the National...